Two Players in their Twenties Dominate the WSOP Tables – Joe Cassidy and Brian Meinders
Joe Cassidy won his first gold bracelet at the WSOP, in the World Championship for Omaha High-Low Split when he toppled one of the stars of poker, Scotty Nguyen in heads-up play. Some of the other players Cassidy bested were Meng La, Mike Matusow and Phil Ivey, who recently played in the 6-Mix Max Event.
Final Tablers at the World Championship Event
This was Ivey’s third appearance at a final table this year, which got people at the event talking about the chances of him landing his ninth bracelet. Had he won the bracelet, it would have placed him in the same league as that of one of the legendary poker players, Johnny Moss. The $5,000 buy-in event drew close to 260 players, which was brought down to a small number on the final day. The final tablers did not go down without a fight – as a result of which, the event spilled over to Day 4.
Cassidy, a professional poker player in his twenties, has made fifteen WSOP in-the-money finishes and four appearances at final tables in the live tournament. Prior to winning the bracelet, the highest achievement that Cassidy had at the WSOP was a fourth place finish, which he made in 2004. His overall earnings in the tournament is close to $670,000.
When the game came down to the final two, Cassiy had a 4:1 chip lead which in other words, was his 3 million to Nguyen’s 770,000. A few hands later, Cassidy was able to reduce his opponent’s stack with a little over 300,000. However, a couple of double-ups helped him even the playing the field. Despite this, Cassidy stayed calm and continued grinding Nguyen. In the final hand, Nguyen bet his short stack pre-flop when his hand showed J-8-5-2. Cassidy’s A-K-5-2 helped him make the nut straight when he reached the river, which brought him his first bracelet at the tournament.
Brian Meinders Bags $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout Win
Another poker professional in his twenties, Brian Meinders, walked away with the bracelet in the tournament when he won the Limit Hold’em Shootout, which was a $1,500 event. The wins brought him more than $155,000 in earnings. After getting the bracelet, Meinders stated that when he came up short in an event he played prior to the Shootout, he realized that he wanted to win the top place in an event at the WSOP.
The final table in the event had ten players, who made it through four hours of play without getting eliminated. The first player to leave the table was Chris Hartman, who could not keep up with the demands of the increasing limits. Both he and Ian Johns (who was sent to the rail in ninth), were the only two players to take home a four figure payday. Seven players other than Meinders were able to make five figures.
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